Nightmares Fade, but Wishes Always Come True
by Starza
Summary: A Yaoi HeroRiouJoei fanfic! Not enough of these! Riou and Joei are having nightmares. Can they somehow come to terms with each other to finally end the nightmares that plague them? This is from Riou's point of view.


WARNING:  MAJOR spoilers ahead for people who didn't beat Suikoden 2 via the good ending!  You've been warned!

Also, this is a Yaoi fanfic.  Meaning the relationship is guy/guy.  If you don't like Yaoi content, please press the back button now.  Flames will be ignored, comments will be welcomed.

I'd also like to say this is my VERY FIRST Yaoi.  I don't know if it's good, bad, off on relationship, etc.  I've never written a Yaoi fanfic before.  This was more spur of the moment after replaying Suikoden 2 and hitting myself for not seeing this relationship before.

Anyways, the hero is Riou, the army and castle are both named Fantasia (I should've named the army something else, but stupid me, I named my castle after my army, SO…).  The title is really temporary, it's corny, but I couldn't think of a halfway decent title for this story.

Well, that's all I'm going to say on this!  Enjoy!  The rating is high, because of Yaoi content, I don't think it warrents a rated R rating since there's only light Yaoi content at the end.

Okay, so if you read my warnings above and are ready for the story, read it and leave a comment so I know wheither I should keep writing Yaoi fics or not!

**Nightmares Fade, but Dreams Always Come True******

He just couldn't believe it.  After they came so far…  After they traveled so far….  After they suffered so much…

_His mind kept repeating 'this can't be real!  It's only a dream!  It's time to wake up Riou!'.  He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping Nanami would come into his room; hear her cheerful voice in the morning.  He would then moan and complain and Nanami would hit him on the head and tell him to stop sleeping in so late, that today was another battle._

_But he knew he was only kidding himself…_

_His hands felt warm and sticky.  He lifted one of his hands.  Blood covered his hands.  But not his blood…_

_The blood of his big sister's…_

_He looked down and could only stare in horror.  Only moments ago, __Gorudo had shot several arrows at them.  He was ready to shield Nanami from harm like he always did, but he failed.  She jumped in front of him, deflecting three arrows off her weapon, but missing the last one, piercing her inside.  He caught her as she fell._

_He pushed her hair back from her face.  Her face was ashen.  Then the tears fell from his eyes.  His only family left…  Gone…_

_Joei was there to watch it happen.  Once Nanami fell, Riou and Joei took down Gorudo in vengeance.  But the damage was done.  Joei, in shock, said he was sorry.  Riou could never hate Joei though, but he was too much in shock to say so to Joei._

_Shu and some soldiers came in after Joei retreated and saw Riou there, holding Namami's body.  He yelled at the soldiers, but Riou didn't hear him, he was in another world entirely._

_He tried to hold back the tears. " A leader shouldn't cry," Nanami would say to him, with her cheery voice and smile.  But he couldn't hold back the tears._

_The tears fell, like a river…  He noticed that his clothes were wet and warm…  He could still feel the blood of his sister's on his hands…  _

He then screamed… 

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Riou woke up with a jolt.  He looked around at his surroundings.  The sun was shining from a window that was open.  He squinted and looked around.  This wasn't his room in Fantasia Castle…

"So you're finally up, lazy bones!  Joei and me were about to throw some water on you!  We kept calling you, but no answer!"

He gasped and looked to see Nanami grinning at him.  He sighed in relief.  The memories of what happened came back to him.

After the reuniting with Joei at Tenzan Pass, Shu had told him what happened to Nanami, that she really wanted time away from Riou for a while and told Shu to pass a message to him that she was waiting for him in Kyaro town.  Joei and him then ran all the way back to Kyaro town to meet Nanami at the old Dojo, alive and well.  They decided that they wanted to see more of the world than staying in Kyaro town.  He put his face in his hands and sighed.

"Are you okay?" Nanami asked, concern forming on her brow.  Riou looked at her and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm okay.  I just had a bad dream."

"Oh, well, cheer up Riou!  We can't have you looking gloomy today!  We're going to be camping out for a few days!" Nanami said and lifted Riou's pack from the corner and winked.  "Come on, Joei will get mad that we're keeping him waiting!"

Riou kicked the blankets back from his bed and rubbed his eyes.  He started to put on his boots.  He looked up at his big sister and said a silent pray for the day, thanking the Gods for giving him Joei and Nanami back.  They meant everything to him.  Especially…

He was cut off from his thoughts by a pillow, which hit him in the face.  Nanami stood there, glaring at him.

"Come ON now, Riou!  I'm making sure you eat breakfast today.  You're still a growing boy, you know!"

Riou smiled and chased his big sister downstairs, where Joei waited for them.

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Riou gasped as he watched his friend fall beside him.  He caught him in his arms.  His best friend, his only remaining friend, the only person who truly understood him, gasped in pain and looked up at his friend.

_"Riou, I used up too much of the 'Black Sword Rune's' power…  Because I used it by itself…  It is slowly taking my life…"_

_"What are you saying!?" Riou exclaimed, his eyes tearing up._

_"I'm dying, Riou…"_

_"No, no, NO!  Not now!  You're all I have left!"_

_"Riou, I need to pass the Rune's power onto you.  Please, give me your right hand…"_

_"I can't…"_

_"Riou, I'm so sorry, but the sins I committed lay too heavy on me…  Please…"_

_"Joei, I can't…"_

_"You must… I can't stand it any longer…  Please…"_

_"I just CAN'T!  You can't die on me!"  The tears then fell.  Riou didn't want to show his weakness in front of his friend, but he couldn't help it.  First Nanami, now Joei…  If he lost Joei, it would be much worse than losing Nanami, because…_

_"Riou, please, you have to…" Joei whispered before his head rolled back.  Riou shook his friend, but no response came.  He then screamed._

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"Riou!"

He felt himself being shaken.  His eyes finally opened a little.  He squinted at the sunlight streaming down on his face.  When his eyes adjusted to the sunlight coming through the trees, he remembered where he was.  He also saw Joei staring down at him with concern in his eyes.

"Joei?" Riou asked, not really comprehending what was going on.

"Riou!  Thank the Gods you're okay!  I heard you tossing and turning and then I heard you scream.  I thought you were being attacked, but…" Joei turned his head away for a moment and looked back at his friend.  "But maybe it was worse than a monster…"

Riou understood what his friend meant.  There was one time, when they were sharing a room; he woke up to Joei moaning.  He knew Joei was having a nightmare then.  He pulled a chair up to him that night and watched him.  He squeezed his hand and whispered to him that things were okay, that there was nothing to be scared of, that he was here and wasn't going to let anything else come harm to him.  He blushed slightly at remembering that and turned to his friend.

"Yeah, but it was just a dream."

Joei smiled at him, which made Riou blush again.  Lately, he was feeling different around Joei.  Not in a bad way though, but something else completely.  He didn't know how to deal with them.  He didn't want to tell Nanami and he couldn't talk to Joei about it, of course!  He had a feeling he knew what it was, but people have all said that it was wrong for boys to do…

"Riou?"

Riou shook his head from his thoughts and smiled back at Joei.  Maybe it was his imagination, but he swore he saw Joei blush at him…

"No, I'm okay.  I just need some fresh air… and some breakfast!"

"Nanami is cooking today."

Riou bit his lip.  "Well, maybe we can wait till lunch."  This caused both boys to laugh.  Both knew Nanami's cooking was horrible, at best.

"HEY!"  Riou and Joei both jumped at Nanami's shouting.  She came to them, and glared down, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Don't think I didn't hear THAT, Riou!"

Joei and Riou looked at each other, and burst into laughter, which only made Nanami scowl at them.  This caused them to laugh even more, rolling around on the ground, holding their stomachs.  Nanami then joined in with them, laughing at how Joei and Riou looked on the ground.  After they laughed, they all lay next to each other and let each of them catch their breath.  Nanami then sat up and stared back at them.

"Come on, you two.  Breakfast is probably cold by now though, but you still have to eat to keep up your strength."

Both boys grinned at each other.  Nanami only shook her head this time and headed to where the remains of their last night campfire remained.  Joei helped Riou roll up his sleeping bag and both headed to where Nanami went.

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Traveling wasn't actually good this time.  After eating a cold breakfast, which wasn't really that bad, now that Riou thought about it, some rain clouds came their way.  By the afternoon rolled around, small droplets starting falling from the sky.  Soon, it started to downpour and they all had to make a run for it.  Unfortunately, the next town was several days away.  Riou and Joei kept their eyes peeled for some sort of dry place where they could dry their clothes and spend the night.  It looked hopeless, until Joei pointed to a small cave.  Riou led the way, his Twin Destiny Fang not far from him.  When they came to the edge of the cave, Nanami pulled out a small lamp and lit it.  She passed it to Joei.  Both Riou and Joei went to the back of the cave to check for anything living inside.  Both sighed in relief to find nothing but a few rocks scattered here and there.  They came back to report to Nanami and started to set up camp for the night.  They couldn't travel in this weather.

Riou saw Nanami shiver.  All of them were soaked from running in the rain and Riou knew that staying in wet clothes wasn't good.  He dug through his pack.  Most things were wet, but he was able to find a blanket folded neatly in his pack, still dry.  He handed it to Nanami, but she handed it back to him.

"Hey, I'll be fine!"  She said, but he insisted that she take it and in the end, she ended up taking it.  Meanwhile, Joei had built a small fire near the mouth of the cave, so that the smoke wouldn't fill the cave.  They needed to dry their clothes somehow.  Riou suggested that Nanami take off her wet things and wrap herself in the blanket, which ended up Riou getting hit on the head, since she took it the wrong way.  When Riou explained why she shouldn't wear wet clothes, and that he didn't want her getting sick, she scowled and asked both Riou and Joei to turn around.  They both did as she asked and when she told them she was okay, they both turned back and saw her completely wrapped up in her blanket.  Her clothes were neatly lying near a rock not far from the fire.  She asked what were they going to do.

"After we eat, we'll take off our clothes and wrap ourselves in our sleeping bags."  Joei suggested.  Riou nodded.

"Well, we should sleep early anyways.  Hopefully, we can get an early start tomorrow."  Riou added in.

They ate their early dinner in silence.  Nanami was first to finish.  She said good night to the boys and wrapped herself in her sleeping bag.  When both of them finished, they took off their clothes.  They didn't turn around for each other though.  In the past, they always got dressed and undressed in front of each other and didn't mind.  But this time, Riou felt heat going to his cheeks instead.  He undressed quickly and wrapped himself in his sleeping bag.  He heard Joei do so himself.  He closed his eyes, but sleep wouldn't come to him.

"Hey Riou?"

Riou's eyes fluttered open at hearing Joei's voice.  He looked to where his friend lay.  He felt himself heat up all around at knowing Joei wasn't wearing any clothes under there.  _'Stop thinking like that!'_  He reprimanded to himself silently.  "Yes, Joei?"  He managed to say out loud.

"I just want you to know…  That these days with you and Nanami…  They couldn't be better than anything…"

"Yeah…"

"I'm so glad we're back together…  When…  When I was up at Tenzan Pass, waiting…  I was worried you wouldn't come, and in another way, I was worried you would, knowing what would soon happen…  But I'm so happy things didn't turn out the way I thought they were going to…"

"I could never hurt you, Joei…" Riou said, and meant it.

He heard Joei sigh to himself.  After a few minutes, Riou heard Joei's soft breathing, and knew he was asleep.

"Good Night, Joei.  Sweet dreams…." Riou whispered, closing his eyes.

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The next day, they got the early start they wanted.  It was a clear day today, the total opposite of the previous day.  They covered a lot of ground that day and made camp shortly after the sun set.

"We should make it to the next town tomorrow!"  Nanami said cheerfully and stretched.  "Well, I'm gonna turn in early tonight!  Night Riou and Joei!  Don't fight too much!"

The boys chuckled and watched Nanami go to her sleeping bag.  Riou went to cleaning up their camp dishes.  He looked around and didn't see Joei anywhere.  He wondered where he went, but he knew he could take care of himself.  A part of him was worried, but he told himself Joei was FAR from helpless.  After he cleaned the last dish, he felt a tap on his shoulder.  He turned to see Joei, who was grinning.

"Let's go for a walk, Riou.  I scouted around and there's nothing dangerous around the woods."

Riou nodded, but he still checked the traps they set.  They still needed to be careful, and several nights before, something did come near them in camp that night.  Luckily, with the power of the runes, the night sky lit up, scaring both the thing that came near the camp and waking them all up.  They dispatched the monster; with Nanami complaining the next day she didn't get much sleep because of that.

Both boys walked in silence for a bit.  Riou looked around, enjoying the night scenery in the forest.  They then came to a small clearing.  The hill looked over the rest of the plains, with a perfect view of the night sky.

Both of them sat down on the grass and looked up at the sky.  Neither of them said a word to each other.  Riou didn't know what to say to Joei though.  He felt nervous inside, but he didn't know why.  He was the leader of the Fantasia army, for goodness sakes!  He faced many foes and monsters in battle and not once, felt nervous.  But here he was, next to his best friend and didn't know what to say to him.

"It feels like old times, doesn't it Riou?"

Riou shook his head from his thoughts and looked at Joei, who was smiling at him.  He nodded and blushed slightly.  He felt he was doing a lot.  Maybe he should tell Joei, but then, would that ruin his friendship with him?  He didn't want that at all…

"Riou?"

"Hmmm?"

"Well, it's just that I…  I mean…  Well…  No, forget it…"

Riou looked at his friend, puzzled.  Joei didn't look at him, but continued to stare out at the horizon.  Riou stared up at the sky.  He saw a star shoot pass in the night sky.

Long ago, he remembered his Grandpa, Genkaku, telling him and Nanami if they ever saw a shooting star, that they should make a wish on it.  Riou closed his eyes.  '_What should I wish for though?_'  He thought.  His thoughts went back to Joei.  '_Maybe I should…_'

He silently made his wish.  When he opened them, he turned to Joei, who was looking back at him with his blue eyes.

"What did you wish for, Riou?"

Riou smiled at him.  "I can't tell you, Joei.  If I tell you, it might not come true."

Joei grinned at his friend.  "I think I know what you wished for.  I can tell by the look in your eyes."  He then took on a serious look, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, like he was gathering all his courage to do something.

"Joei?"  Riou asked his friend.  Joei opened his eyes and placed his finger on Riou's lips.

"Shhh, I have something important to tell you.  I can't keep it a secret anymore.  It just hurts too much now to keep it a secret…"

Riou was puzzled.  Joei was NEVER this serious about things, except when they were fighting, which was different.  He looked into Joei's eyes and sensed that he was nervous but also…  excited.

Joei closed his eyes again.  Riou expected him to say something more, but he didn't.  He closed the small gap that was between them and Riou felt Joei's lips pass his own.  Riou's eyes widened, wanting more, but Joei pulled away from him quickly and stared into Riou's eyes.

"I know…  I know that I was told…  Well, boys aren't supposed to feel this way towards each other, but…  I can't help it…  I may lose your friendship Riou, but I can't keep these feelings inside any longer…  I love you…"

Riou was stunned and felt like he was in a dream.  He almost pinched himself, to check if he was dreaming, but if it were a dream, he would wake up, which he didn't want to.

Joei lowered his gaze from Riou's.  "I knew it…" He said and got up, a hurt expression covering his face.

Riou rose up fast and hugged Joei to him.  He pressed his lips to Joei's, but unlike the kiss he received, he put all the pent up feelings inside into this kiss.  It felt like only a split second went by when they parted, but it was perhaps thirty seconds in reality.

"Now you know it…" Riou joked at Joei, which caused Joei to laugh.  They embraced tightly, like their entire existence depended on it.

"I love you too…" Riou whispered in Joei's ear.  They were silent for a little bit.

"What are we going to tell Nanami though?"  Joei finally whispered.  At the moment, Riou didn't care; he only wanted this feeling to last.  He knew Nanami would be upset, but…

"Nanami already knows, Joei."  Both gasped and turned around to see Nanami, staring at them.

"Nanami…" Riou began, but Nanami waved her finger.

"You think I'm going to be mad?  You think that I'm going to yell and scream and tell you that boys shouldn't be feeling the way you two should?  Well, you're wrong!"

Riou looked from Nanami to Joei, not quite understanding what Nanami was getting at.  She smiled at them both.

"You're my brother!  I'm not going to get mad at you, well, except when you don't listen to your Big Sister, but that's another story.  And Joei, you're my friend!  How can I get mad at you two for feeling this way?"

Both of them sighed in relief.  Nanami turned to both of them, smiling at them.

"Well, come on!  Time to go to sleep!  You two will see each other tomorrow!  We have a lot of ground to cover anywho!"

Both of them nodded.  Nanami walked back to camp.  Joei took Riou's hand, giving it a light squeeze.  Riou smiled back at him.  No matter what happened now, they would all be together.  Riou and Joei walked back to their camp together, finally letting go of the nightmares that haunted both of them, embarking on a new life together.


End file.
